Low Caustic Leaching and Liming (LCLL)

As most of the aluminium smelters worldwide, Rio Tinto smelters in North America were facing the issue of spent potlining (SPL) management. As landfill was becoming less and less an acceptable option, the R&D teams developed an innovative process to treat SPL and capture the value of the by-products produced. SPL treatment technology in industrial operation for 10 years has known a breakthrough in 2018 with the Low Caustic Leaching and Liming (LCLL) Technology, offering significant energy savings and a step forward in by-product valorisation.